A very political ‘strip’ show – ‘Sir Fred’ no more
It normally requires a professional disqualification or a criminal offence to get you stripped of an honour. It is normally a decision kept a million miles from everyday politics. But Mr Fred Goodwin is “sir” no longer at a time of maximum political convenience to the government as it wrestles with a very public and toxic row over bankers’ bonuses.
It is the first forfeiture without criminal conviction or professional body complaint since Robert Mugabe in 2008 and only the second of such a kind that the Cabinet Office can recall. The Mugabe forfeiture took years to be chewed over in secret and concluded. This consideration has happened at breakneck speed, formally announced in public by the prime minister, and the rules governing honours appear to have been re-written with a new qualification for being stripped of an honour…there needs now to be “widespread concern” and if that happens to start with politicians stirring it up, then so be it.
I was originally guided that the Scottish Executive, who gave the original recommendation for the “K,” were, as is usual, the body that recommended the forfeiture. I am now told that was wrong information and the Forfeiture Committee, sitting in the Cabinet Office, “took it upon themselves” to strip away the honour. Judging by the speed of the palace acceding to the request you would assume there was no dispute there, but you can’t help feeling that they might be a little squeamish about what looks like a politically helpful, acutely timed forfeiture. Not that any politician in any party is going to be particularly keen to point to any of this given the bogey figure that “the banker formally known as Sir Fred” has become.
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I’m so angry, I’m missing part of the news!
George Osborne stands there and says the decision to strip Goodwin of his knighthood was ‘independent’. Does he think we are stupid?
I don’t give a toss about whether Fred Goodwin is Sir or Mr. He’s totally discredited anyway and this won’t make any difference.
What would make a difference is stopping these people receiving such enormous remuneration packages. But none of the mealy mouthed politicians are willing to tackle that.
I used to wonder why Prime Ministers and cabinet ministers were paid such relatively low salaries, given their responsibilities. Now we know. It’s because they haven’t got a clue and they are in fact massively overpaid for their ability. In fact most of them wouldn’t be in a position of responsibility if their rich daddies hadn’t paid for them to go to top schools.
When are we going to get some honest polticisns who are willing to represent the mass of the people?
“”I was originally guided that the Scottish Executive, who gave the original recommendation for the “K,” were, as is usual, the body that recommended the forfeiture.”"
It was the previous Labour led coalition Scottish Executive in Holyrood who recommended him for his knighthood. That Scottish Executive is no more – they lost the 2007 election – so could not recommend any forfeiture.
The breakneck speed and its announcement today seems to be more about distracting people while Mr Cameron does his U-turn on the EU in the hope that people will not notice he has crawled back into the room after flouncing out last month.
Surely the secret was in the reason for the honour in the first place. If he had received it for services to Edinburgh, or charity it would be one thing. But he received it “for services to banking” and then almost single-handedly destroyed one of the largest British banks by stupidly insisting on buying ABM Hambros for far too much money.
Set aside the politics (and I agree that at heart it was political) there was no way he could have justified keeping the award now.
Bread and circuses. Bread and circuses.
Hello Gary,
I’m wondering what would have happened to poor old Fred if he had never been a “Sir” in the first place: surely nothing? So he’s been punished not because he did something wrong and punishable but because he was a Knight who performed poorly at work. He had a stick they could beat him with, so they used it because they could not because they should. If Sir Paul McCartney releases a gut wrenchingly poor record, will he lose his Knighthood?
Laters
Rachel